The eleventh edition of India’s most loved T20 extravaganza – the Indian Premier League (IPL), is all set to commence on April 7 at Mumbai’s iconic Wankhede Stadium, home turf of the winners of the tenth edition, Mumbai Indians. In its ten years of existence, the cash-rich league has witnessed a fair amount of controversies, the biggest of which was the spot-fixing scandal of 2013.

It can be recalled that the 2013 scandal led to the removal of the then board president N Srinivasan, and a lifetime ban on promising S Sreesanth’s career, along with bans on other lesser-known players like Ankit Chavan and Ajit Chandila. The entire scam was unearthed by the then head of BCCI’s anti-corruption unit (ACU) Neeraj Kumar, who is now being replaced by retired Director General of Police Ajit Singh Shekhawat in his post.

BCCI official confirms the news

“Yes, the BCCI has finalized Mr Ajit Singh’s name as the new ACU chief. He has been a decorated officer with the speciality in dealing with anti-corruption activities. He fits BCCI’s bill perfectly,” said a BCCI official to PTI.

Singh has studied from St Stephen’s College, Delhi IPS batch of 1982 and was the former DG of prison in Jaipur. The BCCI official further gave a clearer picture saying that Singh will be at the helm of at least a 15-member staff which will look into corruption activities of all tournaments that come under the Indian cricket board.

“Considering the number of matches that BCCI holds every year under its aegis which is more than 1500 (all age-groups, senior tournaments, IPL), to perform his duties efficiently, Singh would require at least a 15-member team (permanent staff). Just having temporary ACU officials – like it is done in first-class games won’t be of any help,” concluded the BCCI official. The upcoming edition of the IPL will be the first major assignment of the newly appointment ACU chief.